Questions arise over how long Ichiro will continue to suit up (he's signed with the Yankees through the 2014 season), but even at his reduced performance level, if he can stay an every day player into the 2015 season he'll almost surely eclipse the 3,000 hit mark in MLB.

January 15

June 27

Barry Bonds offers to play for free.: My opinion on Bonds is no secret, however I noticed this tidbit in the paper yesterday and have been meaning to post about it. Barry Bonds' agent has offered his services to all 30 teams, at a pro-rated salary of the league minimum (at this point, about $200,000 total), even offering to play for free by donating that salary to buying tickets for the game; his trial date isn't until next March, so he would not be prevented from playing.

Despite this, apparently Barry's agent has received no interest, bolstering claims that the league is colluding to prevent him being hired.

June 16

Seattle Mariners (finally) fire GM Bill Bavasi.: For weeks the indisputable worst team in the majors, the $117M Seattle Mariners have finally made a major personnel change by firing General Manager Bill Bavasi today. Many in the media predicted such a shakeup should the Washington Nationals, who came into Seattle with worst record in the NL, complete the sweep of the Mariners in Seattle this weekend.

In his 5 years as Seattle GM including 2008, Bill Bavasi guided the Mariners to a last-place finish in every single year but 2007, where the 88-74 Mariners finished 2nd. The fervent Mariner blog community, who have demanded front office firings for a long time now, are already advocating for his replacement.

January 20

Patriots advance to their 4th Superbowl in 7 years. : Despite his second worst QB rating of the season, Tom Brady and the Patriots advance to the Superbowl thanks to a second half running game and a defense that held the Chargers to only 4 field goals on the afternoon. The Patriots take their 17-1 unprecedented 18-0 record to Arizona in two weeks, facing the Ravens winner of the Packers/Giants game, in the hopes of completing a truly historic season.

January 06

Seattle edges Dallas in a wild, wild 4th quarter: One of the most nail-biting fourth quarters I've ever seen! Dallas looked poised to waltz into the end zone for an easy 2 or 6 point win in the final two minutes of the game, until an incredible goal line stop by Tatupu and an improbable drop of a FG snap led to a wild finish to Saturday's football action.

February 05

The final results are in! Smithers is our winner overall with 43 points, while grum@work and willthrill72 demonstrated almost supernatural futility to take home the Costanza in a tie for last with 16 points. Full write-up and banners/plaques can be found on the LEADERBOARD.

February 01

Congrats to all our players who've been with us since the beginning... this is the final week to decide the overall winner and the Costanza winner!!! Please have your picks in by Sunday, 2/5, 6:00PM EST (just before the game starts)!

January 24

Photoshop help needed!: Need some photoshop help to make proper awards for our NFL Playoffs Pick 'Em. We have two trophies to give out (possibly more, there's been some debate we need a "Manning Cup", for someone in an arbitrary middle spot; an award that means nothing).

There's been some discussion about it, and I've displayed my mock-ups of the regular winner's trophy and the fabled Costanza Trophy. However, while dusted's original design, still used for the Winner's Plaque, the Costanza could use the touch of someone with l33+ Photoshop Skillz.

January 18

Congrats to all our players who've been with us since the beginning; please have your picks in by Sunday, 1/22, before 3:00PM EST! Sadly, it is too late to enter if you've not played in the previous weeks; although you can post your picks for the fun of it, they won't be tracked by the Commish, nor appear on the leaderboard.

There are some new and interesting picks for this week! The Leaderboard, which should be updated after every game, can be found here.

January 09

NFL 2006 Pick 'Em Playoffs, Week 2 (Divisional Round): Congrats to all who played this past weekend- we had 48 players enter! It's not too late to still play- again, it's free and easy- as a good week this week can put you right into the thick of things, especially with the new-this-week "parlay" system!

The Leaderboard, which should be updated after every game, can be found here.

October 09

Astros win 18-inning epic battle in breathless fashion,to advance to the NLCS.: If you missed this one- sweet jesus, what you missed! The longest post season game in history, 18 innings and nearly 6 hours in length. One of the great games I've ever seen: the Braves lead early, holding a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the 8th at Houston and appearing to be cruising to a deciding game 5. A Berkmann grand slam brought the Astros to 6-5 in the bottom 8th, and a two-out solo shot in the bottom of the 9th by Ausmus sent this roller coaster ride into extra innings. A whole second game ensued, 9 more innings of two depleted teams throwing every player they could to pull this one out. Relievers put up 0's across the board for 8 1/2 innings, as we stayed knotted 6-6 until the bottom of the 18th. The Astros had used 23 players, a record (only the absent Pettite and last night's starter, Oswalt, didn't appear), forced to use Clemens- the only pitcher left- for a 3 inning stint to get the win. Chris Burke, a pinch runner used much earlier in the game, was the hero today by smacking a 338 foot homerun to finally put an end to it all.

June 23

Dallas Maverick's center Shawn Bradley to retire after 12 years in the game.: 7' 6" Dallas Mavericks center Shawn Bradley will call it quits after 12 years. Many in the game may question this long-fabled warrior's decision to bow out of the game, on the precipice of immortality. Bradley retires just 31,635 points shy of Jabbar's scoring record, and a mere 18,656 rebounds shy of Chamberlain's long-standing record.

January 23

Patriots taste revenge against the Steelers.: In a dominating performance- albeit with a nail-biting New England defensive lapse through much of the 3rd quarter that allowed the Steelers to get back in it- the New England Patriots earned their 3rd trip to the Superbowl in 4 years, facing the Eagles on February 8th. This was the second time in those 4 years the Patriots defeated through the Steelers in the AFC Championship game.

October 14

October 13

BOS/NYY Game 2, and HOU/STL 1, thread post. Chat away: Also, for those who've never used it, the Gamecast applet is a useful way to "watch" the game when you can't get a video/audio feed or live broadcast. It shows pitch-by-pitch updates, or summary view, and has the full game log and running box score, as well as player profiles, nicely embedded in an easy layout.